


Blooming

by orchidbreezefc



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Gen, M/M, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-11-20 01:36:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11325942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orchidbreezefc/pseuds/orchidbreezefc
Summary: Togami and Hinata were very close as children, closer than either of them really became with anyone since. But things change when you leave the country for eight years. A lot of things...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I held onto this for a long time thinking I would eventually write more--I do have a lot more planned than this tiny thing--but going with my motto of 'some is better than none', I decided to put out this segment and if I get more done later then I can post it later! Who knows, it might be motivating for me! And if not, then, well, you have a little extra Hinagami interaction than was previously in the world. :P
> 
> Shout out to Helen for being the extra push to post this, for being my DR friend and a great friend in general, and for loving my/our AUs more than anyone else put together probably!

"I’m sorry, but there is not a chance in the world that your gown is more uncomfortable than this suit," Togami says, tilting his head back against the bookshelf and spanning his hands on the floor of the library, far away from the dining room and his mother.

Hinata smooths down the top layer of their dress and frowns directly at Togami with big hazel eyes that turn the deepest of scowls into adorable pouts. "You can’t be serious, To-chan," they say. "Are you seeing this?" They flap a hand at the sea of tulle the lower half of their body is submerged in. "It poofs almost up to my face when I sit."

"It’s much easier for you to sit at all," Togami argues, crossing his arms. "My pants have been pressed and starched and god knows what else to death. There was no consideration given to the fact that I might at some point need to bend my legs."

Hinata giggles at the way he put it, but is unwilling to concede the point. "Tull is worse," they insist. "And they put it on everything. Dresses, presents, they even make little flowers out of it and put _those_ on anything they left clean."

"It's pronounced tulle. Like tool," Togami corrects.

Hinata rolls their eyes at him. "Sure. You academically know about it, but you don’t know the horrors I do, trust me."

Togami drums his fingers. "It’s just a shame we have to undergo dressing like this every time we get to see each other."

Hinata hits their heels on the floor, smiling at the idea that they might be ruining their spotless Mary Janes. "You know, normal ten-year-olds with good parents have playdates."

"Playdates?" Togami echoes scornfully.

"Playdates," Hinata insists, twirling a strand of their own hair around their finger. "They're how normal kids meet up to play. No dresses or suits involved."

"I'm not interested in commoner practices," Togami denies. Though he must admit it would be nice to see Hinata more at ease; he imagines them in a pair of shorts with their hair tied up in a normal ponytail or even under a hat, no flowers or jeweled barrettes anywhere.

Hinata hugs their knees to their chest, face going dark. "If I never had to wear another dress in my life it would be too soon."

"It's just the hand you’re dealt," says Togami bracingly. It's close enough to comforting, he thinks.

Hinata scrunches their face up in distaste. "Yeah, I guess. Well, tulle is for littler girls, so maybe when I’m older I’ll wear those skinny cocktail dresses. Those seem a little better."

"Then you’ll be with me in the world of constriction," Togami points out.

"Yeah." Hinata sighs. "Suits don’t seem so bad, you know? If I could wear those..."

Togami wants to promise Hinata he'll change it all, promise to take the world by storm and wrap it in a bow just for them, but he knows how they would look at him. It's too much vulnerability to risk, even if he does mean it. "You'll find a way," he says instead, his tone sharp with expectation. "You're smart enough."

Hinata smiles like they heard everything he chose not to say. "Thanks, To-chan."

Togami huffs a sigh and relents. "Well. You know you're quite welcome, Hina."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Millions of shout outs as always to Helen for bearing me through this and being a fact-checker, as well as Hinagami's biggest shipper and my biggest fan. It means a lot!

Eight years later, Togami runs his hand through his hair and lets out a deep breath to center himself. He's sitting at the top-of-the-line computer in his bedroom and glancing between three monitors. He has people who could watch the stock market for him, of course--he could make up algorithms to calculate the rises and falls for him, not to mention he's obscenely rich already. But everyone needs a hobby. The flow of numbers is almost relaxing to him by now. It's a good way to unwind from the stress of being the most powerful seventeen-year-old in Japan.

Everyone in the household knows not to interrupt Togami's downtime, and yet, the interruption comes. "Thank you, Jeeves," comes a boy’s dry voice from his doorway, and Togami whips around so fast he could swear he almost injured himself somehow.

"Don’t let—" he snarls, but the servant who let the other boy in has already ducked out. Togami's fault, perhaps, for making his servants less than eager to spend much time in a room with him for fear of being snapped at. Still. He settles for turning to the boy and spitting, "Get out."

"Yeah, hello to you too," says the boy, waving a hand dismissively, then stuffing it in his pocket. "Kind of a boring room you got here. Didn’t expect that."

Togami stands partially. "Are you deaf? Get out! I don’t know how you got in here, but--"

"I was let in," the boy says, meaningfully, as if this should matter to Togami.

"Right. Perfect. Upon your exit, which is presently happening, tell me the name of the servant who let you in so I may fire them."

"They don't let people you don't know in, right?" the boy asks, and Togami is not stupid; he can tell he's hinting at something.

"Of course not. Whatever it is you're implying, do feel free to quit wasting my time and spit it out."

The boy rubs the back of his neck and stuffs the other hand further into his pants pocket. He says, as if he had rehearsed the sentence but lost his nerve when it came to it, "Don't you remember me?"

Togami narrows his eyes. The boy is passingly familiar, but damned if he'll admit it so easily. "From what exactly should I remember you?"

The boy takes a breath, then straightens up and looks Togami in the eye. His lips twitch in what might be amusement and then uncertainty. "Well, we did spend quite a lot of time together, To-chan."

Togami blinks. The boy raises his eyebrows expectantly and shifts in place.

"Hina--that is--Hinata?"

Hinata makes awkward jazz hands in reply. Which is stupid, and perfectly reminiscent of the child Togami knew.

"Good lord," says Togami, abandoning his work entirely to stand to his full height and go over to get a look at Hinata, who immediately whistles.

"You got tall."

"I hardly think you're one to talk about changes," says Togami, fighting the urge to circle Hinata for a full inspection.

"Yeah. Oh, uhm--" Hinata sticks out a hand. "It's Hajime." Togami, feeling faintly idiotic but still too stunned to break from etiquette, shakes it and returns Hinata's slight bow. "Hajime Hinata."

"Hajime," Togami echoes. it's a suitable name, certainly much more than that other name ever was; he knew how much Hinata loathed it. "So, you're--?"

"Trans. I haven't had any surgery; can't quite get it past my parents yet," Hinata explains uncomfortably. "But um. Yeah."

"Hajime's a neutral name," Togami points out, nudging toward explanation. He senses now is not the time for his typical brusqueness, but it doesn't come easily.

"Oh." Hinata flaps a hand. "Yeah, no. Dude all the way." He peers up at Togami cautiously. "It's not _that_ much of a surprise, is it?"

"Well, it seems perfectly obvious in hindsight, yes," Togami says, huffing in almost amusement.

"That's good," Hinata sighs, running a hand through his hair. "But, yeah, enough about me. So, you're back home. Welcome back. How was France?"

Togami thinks that was hardly anything about Hinata, all things considered, but goes along with it. "France was and is always a lovely place," he says, feeling the idea has become quite unimportant. "A... good place to spend one's youth."

"Right." Hinata crosses his arms, a smirk coming to his face. "And I'm sure you spent it youthfully frolicking and, what, chasing skirts?"

"Of course not," Togami says, a bit too forcefully perhaps, because Hinata just puts his hands up and laughs.

"Okay, sure, whatever you say. Didn't think so anyway. Have you just moved back in here?" he continues, taking a step farther into the room and looking around. "Seems pretty bare bones."

"What do you--ah, yes. You were never in my room when we were young, were you?" Togami recalls. Lord, this is so strange. "What did you expect, band posters?"

"No," Hinata says. "More like, I don't know, a signed violin on the wall."

"Who would be so much more a prestigious player than me that I would want an autograph?" Togami scoffs, and Hinata really laughs this time, a familiar laugh that always was a little obnoxious, not to mention completely unsuited for someone of their standing, little girl or otherwise.

Togami had missed it.

There's a feeling like his chest has been hollowed out with an enormous spoon. A bit like emptiness, a bit like the parts remaining now having their attachments torn. Yet in his stomach there's something like relief. Something unfamiliar. Something soft and comfortable. It's all deeply confusing, and Togami is not used to feeling confused.

Hinata notices his silence, and coughs. Then he seems to think of an appropriate subject to change to, and grins. "So, To-chan. Do you have an omiyage[[1](%E2%80%9C#note1%E2%80%9D)] for me?"

Togami wants to say it's ridiculous to call him that nickname at their age. He wants to say that he lived in France for eight years; that he wasn't just on a trip collecting gifts for friends all that time; that he didn't expect that he would ever see Hinata again, much less that he would walk back into his life one day with no warning and a different gender.

He doesn't say any of that. "In France we have a similar concept," he says instead. "We call them souvenirs."

Hinata's eyes widen, like he was sure Togami had forgotten about him entirely in his time away and this response, intended to be evasive, is confirmation that Togami did indeed get him something. Which, in turn, was confirmation that Togami had thought about him all that time. And, he would never admit, he had; it happens when one has only really ever had the one friend.

Togami finds himself at a loss. He feels he can't let Hinata down now--and what an alien and frankly alarming concept, the idea of being beholden to another person's feelings. But there's no time to reflect on it, he has to do something--and then he remembers the metal music box[[2](%E2%80%9C#note2%E2%80%9D)] in his desk drawer that he had bought in a museum gift shop. 

It's perfect. It's small enough to fit in the palm of one's hand, and only holds a short tune. He doesn't know why he bought it, aside from being amused that a little Paris-style music box for tourists would play La Marseillaise; the whole thing is just so French it borders on the tacky. Which is probably why Hinata would like it--the boy always had an inordinate fondness for gachapon gifts.

He sharply turns to his dresser and pulls the box out of its drawer, then turns back and presses it into Hinata's hand before he can realize what's happening. "There," he says, gesturing for him to turn the crank.

Hinata turns it, and his eyes light up when he recognizes the tune. "This is great," he enthuses. "I can't believe you actually--wow." He shakes his head.

Togami doesn't say 'you're welcome,' of course. As a matter of fact he doesn't come up with anything to say at all. He does find himself pleased, though, watching Hinata run his fingers over the metallic bumps that make the box work. Pleased at his own success, surely. Nothing more.

Hinata's brow creases in consideration, then he looks up, shoving his free hand in his pocket. "You know, I really mi--I--it's good to see you, you know?"

Togami isn't sure about returning a sentiment like that. What he does say is, "It's certainly good to know you managed to survive eight years on your own," and by the way Hinata laughs, he knows it's good enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 Omiyage is, essentially, a gift given to people in your life when you return from traveling! It's basically an obligation, actually, though I doubt Hinata would be too hard on Togami not having one for him. Generally they're edible, but one makes do with what one has.   
> 2 The music boxes look like [link: [this](https://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/kikkerland_design/metal_music_box_you_are_my_sunshine.cfm)]. You can actually buy them in Paris!


End file.
